Twitter Testifies on 2016 Analysis: Clinton Used Twitter More But Trump Much More Effective…


Twitter admits during 2016 election Trump used platform half as much as Clinton but had twice as much success.  Additionally, Twitter legal counsel admits to hiding up to 48% of negative Clinton twitter content (hashtag tweets surrounding DNC and Podesta emails), yet suppressed nothing negative about candidate Donald Trump…

During testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sean J. Edgett Acting General Counsel for Twitter, Inc. delivered a 20 page opening statement (full pdf below).  Within the statement attorney Edgett shared the protocol for Twitter hiding hashtags they deemed troubling in the lead-up to the 2016 election.

The volume of activity on our system is enormous: Our users generate thousands of Tweets per second, hundreds of thousands of Tweets per minute, hundreds of millions of Tweets per day. ~ Sean J Edgett, Twitter General Counsel

However, amid all the examples cited, Twitter did not “hide” any material that was negative toward candidate Donald Trump.  In every example cited Twitter only took action to hide user content that was negative toward candidate Hillary Clinton.  A remarkable ‘coincidence‘.

[Page #6 of Testimony ] Before the election, we also detected and took action on activity relating to hashtags that have since been reported as manifestations of efforts to interfere with the 2016 election. For example, our automated spam detection systems helped mitigate the impact of automated Tweets promoting the #PodestaEmails hashtag, which originated with Wikileaks’ publication of thousands of emails from the Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s Gmail account.

The core of the hashtag was propagated by Wikileaks, whose account sent out a series of 118 original Tweets containing variants on the hashtag #PodestaEmails referencing the daily installments of the emails released on the Wikileaks website.

In the two months preceding the election, around 57,000 users posted approximately 426,000 unique Tweets containing variations of the #PodestaEmails hashtag. Approximately one quarter (25%) of those Tweets received internal tags from our automation detection systems that hid them from searches.

As described in greater detail below, our systems detected and hid just under half (48%) of the Tweets relating to variants of another notable hashtag, #DNCLeak, which concerned the disclosure of leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee. (pdf link)

Additionally, according to the Twitter analysis (Page #11) their review found a negligible amount of overall activity (within the Hashtags they forcibly hid from view) came from any account with “potential” linkage to Russia:

“Slightly under 4% of Tweets containing #PodestaEmails came from accounts with potential links to Russia. […] With respect to #DNCLeak, approximately 23,000 users posted around 140,000 unique Tweets with that hashtag in the relevant period. Of those Tweets, roughly 2% were from potentially Russian-linked accounts.”

…which begs the question.  This analysis was, by their own admission, “in retrospect”, meaning after the fact.  There’s no way they could identify the user affiliation as it was happening.  So why did they “hide” the trending hashtag?

Further, and in relationship to that question, if slightly under 4% of tweets containing #PodestaEmails came from concerning accounts, then why take the action to hide 25% of total user content including that hashtag?  Similarly, if “roughly 2%” of #DNCLeak use was from concerning users, then why did they hide 48% of the trending hashtag content?

See the problem?

Essentially Twitter legal counsel is admitting here, through twisted analytic hindsight obfuscation, they censor Twitter based on their internal opinion of the content within trending hashtags.

Hilariously, the page #11 testimony also shows that Hillary Clinton used Twitter twice as much as Donald Trump – yet had half as much engagement (re-tweets).

Our data showed that, during the relevant time period, a total of 1,625 @HillaryClinton Tweets were Retweeted approximately 8.3 million times.

The 851 Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account during this period were Retweeted more than 11 million times.

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https://www.scribd.com/embeds/363258194/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-2HFd4vNj7NpML2e4rFh2

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MAGAnomics – U.S. Consumer Confidence “Reaches Highest Point in 17 Years”, Wage Rates Climbing…


The U.S. Conference Board is an economic think tank in partnership with Nielsen surveys which provides predictive economic analysis based on consumer and economic surveys within the larger U.S. economy.  The latest monthly report from the board shows a stratospheric level of consumer confidence, 125.9 the highest level since 2000.

Accordingly, “consumers were even more optimistic in October than economists polled by Reuters expected.”  The media and economic teams who thrill at the possibility of being able to talk-down the U.S. economy are apoplectic…

(Reuters) U.S. consumer confidence jumped to a near 17-year high in October, with households upbeat about the labor market and business conditions, which could underpin consumer spending and boost the economy in the final three months of the year.

The economy’s prospects were further bolstered by other reports on Tuesday showing an acceleration in wage growth in the third quarter and sustained increases in house prices in August.  (read more)

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The only ‘unexpected‘ part is actually the speed of Trump’s MAGAnomics taking hold within the larger Main Street economy; specifically regarding wage increases.   CTH forecast the American labor market seeing the year-over-year comparative wage rate increases around 3 to 5% happening in the second full year of applied MAGAnomic policy. However, there are signs the blue and white collar wage growth is six to eight months ahead of schedule.

American wages and salaries, which account for 70 percent of U.S. employment costs, rose 0.7% in quarter three (July-Sept).  Those same wage rates increased 0.5% in the second quarter (April – June).   This means the year-over-year comparisons for wages and salaries are now trending up 2.5 percent in the 12 months through September (’16 -vs- ’17) after gaining 2.3 percent in the Q2 comparison through June.

With inflation on highly-consumable products, food, fuel, energy holding steady at near zero, the increases in wages mean actual disposable income increases.  This lowered cost of living dynamic is allowing growth in consumer spending for the middle class.

Trump’s MAGAnomics is now entering a phase of self-fulfillment.  Drive down energy prices;… which keep costs down for high consumables;… while simultaneously increasing  overall middle America economic development;… which drives up wages; ….which facilitates the American worker’s ability to spend;… which drives GDP growth.

If President Trump’s economic policies can keep the momentum (note, tax help from congress would be nice), then after approximately two more quarters of this level of GDP growth the economic engine will be running on auto pilot; and once again the common sense free market Main Street (transactional) economy will be operational.

On the housing front you’ll note another dynamic at play which is directly related to growth in the Blue-Collar economy.  Remember, the housing sector is directly related to the regions of the U.S. with the largest expansion of economic growth.  A third report on Tuesday showed the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller composite home price index of 20 U.S. metropolitan areas rose 5.9 percent in August from a year ago after increasing 5.8 percent in July.

In the aggregate housing prices are being driven by a limited number of properties available for sale in the areas of the U.S. with the strongest economic growth.

Record-breaking increases in consumer confidence, combined with rising wages and strong house prices should keep consumer spending very strong for the rest of the year.

Yes, Mr. President, we will be saying “Merry Christmas” again…

Tucker Carlson Expands on Podesta Source Story – Shares Podesta Group Threats Against Him….


Against the backdrop of the Paul Manafort indictment, Fox News host Tucker Carlson expanded on his exclusive source insight (from a former employee) into the Podesta Group and the lobbying activity on behalf of Russian interests.

Additionally, Mr. Carlson shares the legal threats he and his broadcast have recently received from lawyers representing Tony and John Podesta and the DC Lobbying Group they founded.

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Tucker Carlson and Jonathan Turley (George Washington University Law School) discuss Special Counsel Robert Mueller, his ongoing investigation, the indictments from earlier today, and both ultimately come to the same conclusion CTH shared earlier,

Being intellectually honest it appears that Mueller is focused on the bigger, and more dangerous, dynamic surrounding foreign lobbying efforts and payments to DC politicians therein to shape U.S. policy.  Toward eliminating those lobbyist payments, the legal cases against Paul Manafort and Tony Podesta are tools to send the Swamp a message to stop.

Political Prosecutions are now in Full Swing


Paul Manafort, a former campaign manager for President Donald Trump, was indicted on charges of money laundering and conspiracy against the United States. This is a very serious step yet in a special counsel investigation into Russian links with Trump’s 2016 White House campaign. The real issue is not justice – there is no such thing. This is how the government turns a man against his brother until man exists no more.

Additionally. Muller’s longtime business associate Rick Gates was also indicted by a federal grand jury on 12 charges, including conspiracy against the U.S., special counsel Robert Mueller’s office announced Monday. The worst charge is a conspiracy. They need no proof for that charge. They simply can threaten Gates with life imprisonment and hand him a script to testify against Muller to get Muller to turnover Trump. This is how corrupt the justice system has become.

Manafort will be offered a deal to give up Trump or other people close to him in order to stay out of prison. This is how the system works. It is the dirtiest way of creating political prosecutions to create points to go after a hidden agenda.

Robert Mueller was the longest-serving FBI director since J.Edgar Hoover. He knows the system and how to break people. This is how they do that job. The problem is there is nobody on Capitol Hill who you could not indict on conspiracy from Hillary all the way down. You can even indict Obama because there is plenty of evidence he knew Hillary was using a private email server since he tried to hide his identity in communicating with her.

This is clearly a political prosecution. This was supposed to be a probe into Russia interfering with the US election. Not whether someone did not pay taxes on money they received. It has nothing to do with the subject matter and everything to do with who he is and the position he held.

It turns out that Muller is way too buddy-buddy with none other than James Comey. His office has been the source of leaks to the press – totally out of legal ethics itself. Now many are saying he should resign. What has come out of this is that Hillary paid for the whole Russia claims to attack Trump – something her and her friends all denied. Will Hillary be indicted? Do not hold your breath.

Muller may really be heading a deep state coup to try to get rid of Trump even against the politicians on Capitol Hill. This mess is getting really messy and political prosecutions just have to stop

A Warning To Alabama GOP, Breitbart, Steve Bannon, S. Gorka, and Crew…


Stop me when you see the parallels:

The time was November and December 2009, right about this time of year in the larger political calendar of things…. One party was completely locked out from influence in Washington DC, as the opposing party held the White House, and majorities in both houses of congress…

The 2009 political opposition groups didn’t like what was happening.  There was very large and significant legislation being debated.  Frustrated common sense citizens stopped looking to ineffective congressional representatives to stop the daily usurpation.

Loosely connected but engaged grassroots political types were looking for routes to stop the White House and congress.

There was also a Senate seat up for grabs, and a necessary special election.  The former seat-holder was considered a stalwart by the party in power; and the seat was considered a “gimme” by the state party apparatus.  No-one was contemplating the possibility of the majority party in power ever losing that seat….. EVER.

The candidate appointed to hold the seat for the party in power was arrogant, condescending, and generally didn’t feel they needed to work for the seat.  After all, the seat was held by one party for decades and generally no-one could fathom losing it.

The election outcome was considered so much a forgone conclusion no-one was even polling the state throughout November or December 2009.   It was also because of that herd mindset the next-in-line candidate just spent time on the cocktail circuit meeting with donors, taking their requests and then a few trips to DC for parties, drape-measuring, and generally snobbing around with the upper-minded ‘betters’.

About a month prior to the actual voting the election outcome was so widely anticipated to be a lopsided victory for the party in power the candidate actually took three weeks off, and jetted away to the caribbean for a Christmas/New Year holiday vacation.

However, under the radar, and entirely missed by everyone -including media- small bands of grassroots political peeps discovered the other parties strength was also their weakness.  There was an invisible path to victory, and, more importantly, a hard working candidate who had quietly put in a stunning amount of groundwork.

Around the same time the overly confident political types were obliviously comparing Christmas decor…. tens, then dozens, then hundreds, eventually thousands of very focused volunteers began to assemble when everyone else was busy with the holiday and not paying attention.

Many, including many I got to know personally, gave up their 2009 holidays to drive half-way across the country and help the quiet assembly.  [“Meet at the Old Mill, we ride at midnight”…]

By the time the party in power woke up from their New Years celebrations and looked to the formality of the upcoming election/coronation, well, it was too late.

The rebel alliance had positioned in every town, village, street corner, venue and simultaneously began overwhelming a completely unprepared political apparatus by drawing attention to their goal: Take the seat from the hands of power, and give it back to the people….

Our strategic advantage was their collective arrogance.

Because they fully expected to win the election, they didn’t even have signs, bumper stickers, advertising contracts, or operational infrastructure or volunteers planned for a campaign.  They were completely caught off-guard.

We had thousands of people with home-made signs in the streets daily.  The momentum was on our side and the candidate messaging so focused that by the time the DC apparatus woke up mid-January it was far too late.   The election day was January 19th 2010.

Yes, in Dec. 2009/Jan 2010 the grassroots movement in Massachusetts to elect Scott Brown caught the Democrats completely off-guard.  Martha Coakley lost, Scott Brown won, the political world was stunned; and yes, Democrats lost the Kennedy seat.

Why does this matter now?

Alabama Republicans, and the group planning to help Roy Moore win the Alabama primary, would be wise to pay attention to that historic reminder because republican candidate Roy Moore is acting just like democrat candidate Martha Coakley in November and December 2009.

  • One party in power.
  • A special election in a deeply one-sided state everyone takes for granted.
  • A seat formerly held by a stalwart of the party in power. (Kennedy / Sessions)
  • A disgruntled opposition party whose grassroots strategy is under the radar.
  • No-one in the media paying attention. (A strategy that benefits from stealth)
  • A generally ‘unlikable candidate‘, who spent more time in DC than campaigning in the state where it mattered.  (see below)

See the parallels?

2017: No Democrat can ever win a senate seat in Alabama they say….

2009: No Republican can ever win a senate seat in Massachusetts they said…

Any questions?

Clinton Paid to Have the Dossier Created to Try to Discredit Trump


COMMENT: I am shocked that the Washington Post has come out and admitted that the Clinton campaign and the DNC paid for research that led to Russia dossier that has been the center of all the investigations even though much of it has been discredited.

REPLY: Welcome to the real world of politics. What they do not understand is this is just one of the reason people voted for Trump. They are sick of government for the government against the people. There is just no “We the People” in their vocabulary.

Previously both John Podesta and former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz denied any knowledge of funding for this dossier. Any surprise at that

CNN’s Sketchy Dossier “Reporting”…


Notice how the New York Times and Washington Post are staying away from the CNN story about the upcoming Robert Mueller indictments.  There’s a good reason for that…

….Things That Make Other Things Make Sense:

Back January 10th, 2017, when CNN first began emphasizing the Russian Dossier and how it related to the ‘vast Russian conspiracy’ CTH knew from the way it was being pitched that something was sketchy about CNN’s reporting.   It wasn’t just the story they were selling; it was a very specific cast of characters selling it.   We immediately NOTED IT HERE.

Jake Tapper, Jim Scuitto, Evan Perez and Carl Bernstein was the CNN crew assembled to talk about the Clinton/DNC funded -and Fusion GPS contracted- Christopher Steele ‘dossier’.  Evan Perez had some rather sketchy stories in the weeks prior to their January 10th narrative roll out.  Again the back story is important –SEE HERE

Well, fast forward to now – and today The Daily Caller is reporting that Evan Perez is actually close friends with the people behind Fusion GPS.  VERY close friends. Like, ‘go on vacation together’ type friends:  VERY IMPORTANT READ

DAILY CALLER – CNN’s reporting on the Trump-Russia dossier has left out at least one crucial fact: the close ties between the network and the opposition research firm at the center of the dossier controversy.

CNN’s reporting on the dossier, led by justice correspondent Evan Perez, has been favorable to the firm, Fusion GPS, and hyped the dossier’s credibility. Left out of Perez’s reporting, which has relied largely on unnamed sources, is his personal closeness to Fusion GPS’ operatives. (continue reading)

The Plot Thickens:

Read Gateway Pundit Story HERE

Lessons in Swamp Manuevers: Trump -vs- Clinton -vs- Mueller -vs- Sessions -vs- Rosenstein -vs- Comey, etc.


The leak from a sealed grand jury indictment within the special counsel Robert Mueller investigation, writ large, has everyone a-twitter…  Perhaps, a reminder is in order.

First lesson from the DC SwampEverything is about politics.  It’s not about the law; it’s not about the judiciary; it’s not about what’s legal, or the illegality of behavior;  only politics.  These are not legal issues, the entities involved are not connected to legal or illegal application of laws as they relate to the rest of American society.

You cannot view the current action through the transactional prism of modern judicial proceedings as they relate to you and me. These are political cases, that use the venue of the legal system.  They use the legal system to play out the optics and narrative of political battles for ideological wins and losses.

The closest reminder you might have familiarity with would be the case against George Zimmerman (never about the legal system); or the case against officer Darren Wilson; again it was never about the legal system.  Those were political cases run through the matrix of the legal system.  So too is this entire DC partisan dysfunctional investigative construct -surrounding all of the current DC cases- not about the application of law, it is about politics. Period.

The notification from the FBI through the DOJ to allow the unknown 2010 FBI witness to testify to congress about the Uranium One investigation has initiated a responsive action from Robert Mueller to save and use his political leverage.  This is not about laws broken; this is about political leverage to be retained.

The gamesmanship currently being pitched through the media is about political leverage.  That leverage in DC is traded like baseball cards amid the upper tier of those who float in an entirely divergent orbit from everyone else.

Repeat: this is not about law. It’s about politics.

If Mueller waited any longer to construct his political cases against those he is investigating he would open himself up to scrutiny from within his attachment to the Uranium One deal.

If the mystery FBI witness testified to congress before Mueller announced an indictment it would look like Mueller was retaliating against that testimony.  So Mueller plays the hand he’s carrying.

Now, by going first, regardless of the testimony from the FBI witness, any negative outcome therein would look like retaliation against him for indictments announced prior to the testimony.

See how that works?

Remember, this is not about laws, lawfulness, or the judicial system.  These participants operate above that system.  They are in a political system above the law; they use the landscape of the judicial system to advance politics.  Pause and repeat as needed.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is simply attempting to retain his leverage within the game.  Going first allows him to keep and use that leverage.  If Mueller had waited he would have lost that leverage.

Congress has now lost leverage.  Regardless of what the FBI informant says to them regarding the Uranium One deal it is useless against the optic of retaliation for the special counsel investigation.

Conversely, those who were getting sick and tired of this investigation dragging on also know how the game is played.  They knew if they brought in the angle of the FBI informant it would force Mueller to act fast.  Again, this is politics, not legal.

Mueller has protected himself from the leverage congress was assembling and now he has cards to trade for any outcomes therein.  Mueller knew by planting the leak tonight his leverage would have all weekend to grow and establish itself through the media.

This is the exact same hand James Comey played when he intentionally leaked his memo notes to the New York Times right before he was fired.  Comey was losing leverage; Comey needed to gain back leverage to protect his interests.

Changing and trading leverage is politics.

Establish enough leverage and you can break any law with impunity.

Nothing more.

Enjoy your weekend….

 

BREAKING: Grand Jury Approves First Charges in Mueller Investigation…


Washington (CNN) A federal grand jury in Washington, DC, on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources briefed on the matter.

The charges are still sealed under orders from a federal judge. Plans were prepared Friday for anyone charged to be taken into custody as soon as Monday, the sources said. It is unclear what the charges are. A spokesman for the special counsel’s office declined to comment. (read more)

(Article Link) – (Tweet Link)

First wave of arrests to begin on Monday?

 

MAGAnomics – Third Quarter GDP Growth of 3% Exceeds “Economist Expectations”…


MAGAnomics is a generally common sense approach toward achieving dynamic growth in the U.S. economy.  Left-leaning economic experts (most of them) are gnashing their teeth as the America-First MAGAnomic principles are paying YUGE initial dividends.

Reuters News is forced to painfully publish the positive numbers; yet they talk down the economy despite the reality.  Again, using the Reuters information we’ll dig into the economic news, and deconstruct their dismissive ideologically-driven narrative.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy unexpectedly maintained a brisk pace of growth in the third quarter as an increase in inventory investment and a smaller trade deficit offset a hurricane-related slowdown in consumer spending and a decline in construction.

♦First, “unexpectedly”. Yeah, it’s always ‘unexpected’ when the results run counter to the preferred outcome.  Notice, “inventory investment”, that’s parseltongue verbiage to describe manufacturing and production infrastructure investment.  It’s not just “inventory” as in “unsold products”, what’s happening is companies are investing in growth and building out production capacity.  The “inventory” is actually equipment (being purchased) and operational infrastructure (being built), two measured GDP values.

♦Second, “smaller trade deficit”. Again, as we noted, the reductions in imports have a doubling impact on GDP growth because imports are deducted from GDP in the economic equation.  If you make a $100 widget in America and don’t import a $100 widget from China, the GDP grows by $200 (the combined value of the produced product and the absence of a deduction for the imported product).  Notice no economic publication is giving Trump credit for the “Made in USA”, America First, policy and promotion.

The economy grew at a 3.1 percent pace in the second quarter. It was the first time since 2014 that it experienced growth of 3 percent or more for two quarters in a row. Economists had forecast GDP increasing at a 2.5 percent rate in the third quarter.

[…]  Post-hurricane labor market, retail sales and industrial production data already show an acceleration in underlying economic activity. Economists expect the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates for a third time this year in December.

“Fed officials will be encouraged by both the overall performance and the composition of growth in the third quarter, which confirms the U.S. economic expansion remains on solid ground,” said Michelle Girard, chief U.S. economist at NatWest Markets in Stamford, Connecticut.

Of course the Fed will increase rates.  However, FED policy is still disconnected from “Main Street”.   FED policy is focused on inflation.  We are still in the space between two economies, “Wall Street” and “Main Street”.   FED policy is designed around the Wall Street economic model they created over 20+ years.

Remember, the FED had consigned the “Main Street” economy to be a “service driven economy”; it is Trump’s MAGAnomics that has disrupted this design and is bringing back a production and manufacturing economy, a middle-class economy.  As such FED policy needs both time and new leadership to come into synergy with an entirely different set of economic policy initiatives created by President Trump.

[…] Businesses accumulated inventories at a $35.8 billion pace in the third quarter, leading to inventory investment adding 0.73 percentage point to third-quarter GDP growth. Inventories contributed just over a tenth of a percentage point to output in the prior period. Economists expect a modest boost from inventories in the fourth quarter.

These “inventories” include raw material purchases for future products.  Remember, companies are smart… the free market is smart…. production companies know when to forecast higher import prices on any raw material.  Like you, companies will purchase items now that they predict will increase in price later.  This boosts the gross margin when the final product is assembled for sale.

When final product assembly is timed when the domestic economy is ‘hot’, the final product has a higher selling price.  Lower initial purchase costs for raw materials combined with higher selling prices equals bigger profits.  It’s easy peasy business 101.

Though export growth slowed in the last quarter, that was eclipsed by the steepest pace of decline in imports in three years, leaving a smaller trade deficit, which added four-tenths of a percentage point to GDP growth. Trade has contributed to output for three quarters in a row.

Business investment in equipment rose at an 8.6 percent rate, increasing for a fourth straight quarter.

Import purchases dropping, thanks to Trump policy and promotion of ‘Made in USA’ programs, leads to domestic companies buying equipment to ‘Make in USA’.  DUH…

[…]  Growth in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy, slowed to a 2.4 percent rate as hurricanes Harvey and Irma hurt incomes.

Consumer spending rose at a robust 3.3 percent pace in the second quarter and is likely to accelerate in the fourth quarter with a separate report on Friday showing consumer sentiment holding at lofty levels in October.

“Lofty levels”?  Writers at Reuters can’t even give Trump credit for the highest level of consumer confidence in the past 40 years.

Despite the moderation in consumer spending, inflation perked up in the third quarter, likely as a result of disruptions to the supply chain caused by the hurricanes.

They don’t know what kicked up inflation, because they are stuck in their economic paradigms and not recognizing a tighter labor market… leads to increased wages… leads to increased prices… leads to increased inflation on products from within those labor markets.

This next part cracks me up:

The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding food and energy, increased at a 1.3 percent rate. That followed a 0.9 percent pace of increase in the second quarter.

With inflation rising, income at the disposal of households increased at a 0.6 percent rate, braking sharply from the second-quarter’s strong 3.3 percent pace. (link)

As we have continually stated the FED doesn’t measure ‘highly consumable products’ in their inflation index (ie. food, fuel, energy costs).  These highly consumable products represent the largest part of the expenditures for households.  They are also domestic products.

Trump’s MAGAnomic Main Street (middle-class) policies, as executed with removal of regulation and increases in production etc., are driving down the price of food, fuel, oil and energy – all domestic products.  This lower cost-of-living approach, in conjunction with increased wages as a result of labor market, means a doubling effect on the incomes of middle-class Americans.   Stuff we use a lot costs less and we are simultaneously seeing wage increases.

If it wasn’t for the insufferable ObamaCare, GDP growth would be pushing 4% or higher because we’d have that much more available purchasing power.  However, remaining positive and not getting annoyed by that aspect, this is also why it’s very predictable to see tax reform putting even more spending fuel into your pocket….

All of that will drive GDP well beyond 5%; and when you combine our ability to spend, with U.S. companies making the stuff we want, and again less imports -and you know how imports deduct from GDP growth- well, the totality of it makes 6 or 7% growth seem very plausible….  Which is exactly what Steve Forbes predicted two years ago if Donald Trump became President Trump.